This issue consists of a collection of papers presented at the John Lawrence Celebration Symposium held in Canberra, Australia on 2 December 1999. The papers reflect John Lawrence's broad and comprehensive approach to beetle systematics, focusing on thorough character-based phylogenetic studies and on evolutionary aspects ranging from fossil history to presently occurring adaptations to human-induced environmental changes. Together they constitute an homage to his contributions to, and influence on, modern beetle systematics as well as an advance on several outstanding aspects of coleopteran systematics and biology.